1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to strings for musical instruments, and particularly to strings for musical instruments such as strings for guitars and the like that may be manipulated along their length.
2. Description of Related Art
There are a multitude of different types of musical strings employed today, each performing a different function. A typical guitar employs a straight (non-wound) string (such as "catgut," metal, or synthetic polymer (e.g., those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,339,499 and 4,382,358)) for higher pitched notes, and wound metal or polymer strings (usually a wrapped metal or polymer winding over a core of nylon or similar material) for lower pitch notes. Wound strings rely on the additional string mass per unit length supplied by the spiral wrap of the wound string to supply lower pitched notes at an acceptable string tension. Existing string designs have been refined over many years to provide excellent musical tones, but the strings continue to be limited in many respects.
There is a large variety of stringed musical instruments employed today that require human contact along at least a portion of the strings, such as in the fingering and plucking of guitar strings in order to be played. While straight gage strings can be easily wiped of dirt and oil after use, wound strings tend to become contaminated with dirt, skin oils, and perspiration after even a few hours of playing. It is believed that dirt and other contaminants infiltrate windings of the string causing the windings to have limited motion. After a relatively short period of time, a typical wound string will become musically "dead," apparently due to the build-up of this contamination. Presently wound strings that lose their tonal qualities must be removed from the instrument and either cleaned or replaced. This process is burdensome, time consuming, and expensive for musicians who play frequently and care about tonal quality.
Another problem encountered with strings requiring fingering along a fingering board (e.g., a guitar fret board) is that a substantial amount of pressure must often be applied by the musician against the fingering board in order to produce different musical notes. This can be discouraging for beginning music students. Accomplished musicians normally develop extensive calluses on their fingers from years of playing their instruments. Despite such calluses, the pressure and friction generated by playing the instruments tends to be one of the primary causes of frustration and fatigue or injury for many musicians.
Still another problem with conventional strings, and particularly conventional wound strings, is that the action of fingering quickly across the strings often generates unwanted noises. For instance, it is common to hear a "squeak" from guitar wound strings as a musician fingers rapidly across a fret board or finger board. In order to avoid such squeaks, the musician must make a concerted effort to completely separate his or her fingers from the strings when repositioning on the fret or finger board. This repositioning action slows the musician's note changes and further increases fatigue.
It would seem that some of these problems could be addressed if the strings could be coated with some substance to avoid contamination of the wound string windings and/or to provide some cushioning or smooth, non-squeak, cover for the strings. For example, Fender Corporation offers a bass guitar string that employs a spiral wrap of a flat, stiff polymer tape (such as nylon) around the wound string. The polymer tape is not adhered to the wound string and does not conform to the underlying bass string, but, instead, is held in place merely by tightly helically wrapping the stiff flat tape around the bass string and holding the tape from unwinding with an outer-wrapping of thread at each end of the guitar string. The polymer tape is wrapped with its side edges abutting without overlap of or adhesion to adjacent tape wraps. Further, if the thread holding the polymer tape is damaged or removed, the polymer tape rapidly uncoils in a helical coil. It is possible to restore the string to the original condition by rewinding the polymer tape about the string and securing it with a thread winding.
While Fender Corporation's use of a stiff tape wrap may help reduce some contamination problems (which does not appear to be claimed by Fender) or may make the string somewhat more comfortable to play, the Fender bass guitar string has a distinctly "dead" sound when played. The relatively heavy and stiff wrapping is believed to limit the amount and duration of vibration of the string, particularly at higher harmonic or overtone frequencies, muffling or "deadening" its sound. As a result of the use of such a non-deformable covering, the string is unsuitable for most guitar applications where a conventional "bright" or "lively" guitar sound is sought.
These problems are addressed in the invention described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/561,774, filed Nov. 22, 1995. These strings employ a unique cover that is deformable along the length of the string. The deformable cover protects the strings from contamination, protects the musician's fingers from abrasion, and reduces or eliminates "squeak." The deformability of the cover allows for the movement of the windings of the strings. The result is a string that has excellent tonal quality.
Despite the tremendous benefits delivered by the strings of the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/561,774, a number of possible problems have emerged. First, where the cover is wrapped along the entire length of a guitar string or the like, the cover may wear and fray where the string is strummed with a pick. This does not appear to diminish string sound, but it has raised aesthetic objections. Second, where the cover is wrapped only along the fingering board, the fraying problem is eliminated but a slight intonation problem has been observed. The intonation problem becomes a greater concern when higher notes are played (i.e., when fingering occurs near the 12th fret). These problems have spurred the need for an even more effective covered string.
It is accordingly a primary purpose of the present invention to provide an improved covered musical instrument string that maintains correct intonation.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide an improved musical instrument string that retains all the benefits of a covered musical string, including being corrosion resistant in the fret region, and faster, easier, and/or more comfortable to play than conventional strings, and less prone to generating unwanted noises when a musician's fingers are moved along the string.
These and other purposes of the present invention will become evident from review of the following description.